Rescue Angels

Me: Oh, Code Geass. Your first season stole my heart, and your second season brutally demolished it in every single way possible. It was only a matter of time before I started writing something for you. Especially given my love for happy endings.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geas...R2 would have been radically different if I had.

Prologue: Rebirth Rebellion

Shirley Fennett was bleeding to death.

She saw many things as she lay there, staring at the ceiling. She saw bits and pieces of her life...her father and mother...dazed, she saw Rolo baking away from her, the gun who's bullet was in her stomach clutched at his side. Did he really think I'd hurt Lulu? She wondered in dazed amazement, placing a shaky hand on her bloody stomach. As if I could hurt him, anymore than I could hurt myself...?

Oh Lulu. I'm sorry. I promised myself I'd be there to support you. I didn't want you to be alone with this terrible burden...

"Shirley!"

Speak of the devil. Only he wasn't a devil. Not to her. Never to her.

He's here, Shirley thought with dazed happiness. I'm so glad. I wish he didn't have to watch me die, but I'm so glad he can be here while I pass on...

She looked up into his eyes. Those beautiful, tortured, intense violet eyes, they had captivated her from the start even back when she'd thought he was a cold, stuck up recluse. Her deepest wish had been to see those eyes looking at her with love or at least affection, even just platonically, however much she might have longed for more just him being in her life gave it colour and joy she'd never know without it. No matter what happened or what she experienced – not Mao, not Rolo, not even Britannia itself – none of it could make her regret being close to Lelouch via Britannia, even for only those precious few moments.

"Lulu..." She coughed on her blood and pressed herself against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. He kept shouting her name, pleading with her.

Then the words were spoken.

"Shirley, no! Don't leave me!"

Shirley gasped and strained her arm, reaching up for his face.

You can't believe I'd do that...no, I promised. I promised! I will never leave you, not even in death! I'll hold to that word, that contract I made, in life and death and rebirth...!

She could barely move, but her fingertips brushed gently against his lips. Lelouch gasped slightly.

"I'll...never leave you...Lulu..." Shirley whispered, with a conviction she had never felt in her life before. Promising. Swearing. "In every world...in every time...I'll...always be with you...you couldn't get rid of me if you tried."

She smiled with all the strength she had left. "Love. Eternity. I love you, Lulu."

Lelouch began to weep openly – something he hadn't done since he thought he lost his mother. And now his tears were heavier than even that moment in time. He cradled her closer to his heart, which he had tried so carefully to keep people out of in case of this very event.

"Is this my punishment?!" He cried, heedless to if anyone was nearby. "Loosing my angel?" He turned his head down to Shirley. He couldn't save her. The bullet went too deep and she had lost too much blood. The pain he knew now was unlike any other.

"Lulu..." Shirley's eyes were...glowing slightly. Not red, but a soft sheen of gold. If Lelouch had been less distraught, he would have noticed it right away. "... ...kiss me... ...please."

"Of course," Lelouch whispered, before lowering his head and gently, tenderly kissing Shirley's bloodied lips.

An explosion of gold light filled the hallway.

Shirley fell away from the mortal realm. As the light enveloped her, she heard a terrible, broken scream echo through the empty building. Lulu!

Instead of going up, she felt like she was being pulled backwards. A golden red clock, hands spinning back, appeared in a flash in her eyes before everything went white.

~Elsewhere~

At another point in time, bleeding out, her mind muddled by an ill thought out Geass order, Euphemia li Britannia was also dying near the man she loved. Her true personality was melting through as she drew closer to the dark end, distantly hearing people screaming.

Where was Suzaku? What was happening out there? Had her reform gone through?

Those didn't sound like happy cries...

Suzaku was desperately calling out for her. Euphemia was trying to reach out, touch him. She wanted to know that the only man she'd truly fallen in love with was while the world around her faded into darkness. I'm sorry, Suzaku...I'm not sure what happened...I just know something went wrong.

"Suzaku..."

He responded instantly to her voice, pulling her close to him. Euphemia couldn't help but smile up at him just a bit, even when it hurt.

Her family had considered arranged marriages for her, but none of those potential men had made her happy. She hadn't liked any of them. Usually she had to rely on Cornelia to keep them away from her, but that ended up backfiring when she went and fell in love with an Eleven.

A Japanese boy. Suzaku Kururugi.

He was holding her. She couldn't quite hear him speaking to her, but just the quiet cantor in his voice was enough to comfort her.

"...I love you..."

Euphemia smiled weakly. She had tried to confess or explain her feelings to him multiple times, but his noble nature had caused it to go flying over his head. Oh, why did he have to be so stubbornly good? It was his best and worst quality.

I'm sorry. It didn't work out the way I wanted it to, did it? She could tell by the look in Suzaku's eyes. Her knight was a terrible liar. Oh, Suzaku, I wish I could fix it. I wish I could create the world where we, and all those people out there, can be together happily.

The golden light flared in her eyes. Like Lelouch, Suzaku was too upset to pick up on it.

If I could, I would give you all that world.

...Do you swear it?

...Yes.

The hospital exploded with golden light. Euphemia felt herself lifting up and away, leaving her body, the world turning white around her.

~Elsewhere~

Shirley and Euphemia hovered in darkness for a moment. It took a moment for the two to get over their disorentiation; when they did, they realized they were seeing things...

The betrayal of the Black Knights

The Thought Elevator

The sheer extent of Charles and Marianne's plan

all the deaths, losses, suffering on all sides

and finally...

the death of Lelouch via Britannia.

The peaceful, happy world, won by blood and sacrifice.

Shirley burst into tears, sobbing and calling out for Lelouch. Euphemia was more quiet, but tears rolled down her cheeks nonetheless.

"All those souls, lost...it breaks my heart..."

Both girls gasped and looked around. They had heard that voice before...when they had died. The darkness fell away, revealing warm gold light, white clouds, and the top of the Elevator. The modern day Tower of Babel.

"The peace and goodness has been won, but at what cost? The thousands of souls that suffered, died, or were tainted by their suffering." The voice sounded old, wise, and full of sorrow. "So that is what becomes of my world and my people when those with tainted hearts rule over it."

"I..who are you?" Euphemia asked softly.

"Who am I? Everyone knows who I am, Euphemia Li Britannia, even if they have closed their hearts to me." The voice grew gentle. "I feel the pain in your hearts. It echoes my own. Perhaps...yes, it is possible."

"What is?" Shirley asked, raising her head and trying to see into the golden glow.

"Your hearts are pure, and your deaths were tragedies and cruelties. Your contracts have formed in your deaths, and I can give you the power to mete them out. May I give you a mission?"

"Mission...?" Shirley straightened up. Euphemia's eyes widened. "If...if it means saving Lulu, saving my father, saving those people-"

"Helping the Japanese, bringing about a better world-" Euphemia contributed.

"Then we'll do it! We'll do anything!" Shirley promised.

"You have spoken wisely...my angels."

Shirley let out a loud gasp. The golden light surrounded both girls; immediately they sensed a strange and wonderful power coming into existence within them. Wings burst out of their backs; golden feathered wings with ethereal forms.

"Go back to the beginning." The voice said. "And Rescue those souls."

Everything faded out.

~Line Break~

Shirley woke slowly, dazed. She blinked several times...

And found herself staring at her bedroom ceiling.

Was it all a bad dream? She wondered for a moment. Her heart pounding, she leapt to her feet and ran over to the full length mirror in the bathroom. She gasped and laughed with joy at what she saw there.

Her eyes were glowing gold, with a familiar symbol in one of them. And spread from her back were the golden wings.

It was real! Her contract, that mission, it was real!

Spinning on her heel, Shirley rushed over to her desk and looked at the calander. It was the day before Suzaku had been brought onto the street as Prince Clovis's supposed killer.

I'm back! Shirley cheered internally, before taking a deep breath to marshal herself. And I have a lot of work to do. First, I need to figure out some way to contact Euphemia.

~Line Break~

"My lady! Are you alright?"

Euphemia woke slowly, rubbing her raw eyes. She felt like she had been crying in her sleep. A nearby maidservant was looking anxiously at her. I know this place. This is my room in the palace at Japan. ...It wasn't just a dream!

Smiling brightly at the maid, Euphemia swung her legs over the side of the bed and said, "I'm fine, miss. I had just been experiencing a terrible nightmare. Thank you kindly for waking me."

The maid started in surprise at her quick emotional change. "Ah-you're welcome, your highness."

Slowly getting up, Euphemia walked over to her window. She gazed out across it, feeling the warmth of her new power coursing through her. Righteous judgment... She clenched her fists on the windowstill.

Father. Schnizel. Marianne. Clovis. Nina. V.V.

It's going to be different this time. Your plots will come apart at the seams.

I will heal all those you have hurt. And you will loose your power.

End Chapter

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